China raises capital requirement for top five banks: report

Citing three sources with knowledge of the matter, Bloomberg said Industrial & Commercial Bank of China <601398.SS> <1398.HK>, the world's biggest bank by stock market value, was told last month to have a capital adequacy ratio of at least 11.8 percent.

Three other rivals of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China were told the same, with Agricultural Bank of China <601288.SS> <1288.HK> as the exception -- it was told to have a ratio of 11.7 percent.

The three other top Chinese banks are China Construction Bank <601939.SS> <0939.HK>, Bank of China <601988.SS> <601988.SS><3988.HK>, and Bank of Communications Co Ltd <3328.HK> <601328.SS>.

An official in the press office at the China Banking Regulatory Commission, contacted by Reuters on Tuesday, denied that capital adequacy ratios had been raised for the banks.

A document obtained by Reuters in February showed China's banking regulator could raise the capital adequacy ratio for banks to as high as 14 percent.

A 14-percent level would be 250 basis points above the minimum 11.5 percent mark, and would be implemented as an additional counter-cyclical requirement if the regulator thinks credit growth is abnormally strong.

(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Editing by Ken Wills)